 Activists, students, workers and community members stand up to the fascists Photo: Bethany Malmgren |
On Oct. 24 , Nazi agitators from the misnamed “National Socialist Movement” held a rally in the heart of a predominantly Latino community in Riverside, Calif. Intending to attack and intimidate immigrant workers, their demonstration took place at a site where day laborers gather to find work.
The “National Socialist Movement” is a fascist grouping. It has nothing to do with socialism, and is an ardent enemy of all working-class people. Their reactionary politics make the most racist, sexist, xenophobic, anti-immigrant and anti-gay claims; all are significant barriers to working-class unity. While the NSM claims to be revolutionary and anti-government, the existence of groups like the NSM actually serves the interests of the U.S. ruling class.
Frederick Engels describes in “The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State” that the capitalist state apparatus, like the one we live under in the United States, is a product of the irreconcilable class antagonisms that inevitably arise in class society. The state exists solely to protect and manage the rule of the tiny rich owning class from the vast majority, who suffer under the capitalist system. An essential feature of the capitalist state is the “special bodies of armed men” that act in its interests, like the local and state police, federal agents, the prison system, and sometimes the military.
But in addition to these official armed bodies of the state, there are also unofficial bodies that serve a very similar function, like the Minutemen, the Ku Klux Klan, right-wing militias, and Nazi forces like the NSM. While they are not directly controlled by the state, they are allowed to exist to fuel class division, terrorize oppressed communities and ultimately serve as a reserve army for the capitalist class. The bourgeois media provides ideological support for these groups through the likes of Lou Dobbs, Glenn Beck and other racists given a platform to spread hate in the mass media.
Recent months have shown a significant rise in extreme-right activity with hate crimes and attacks on immigrants skyrocketing. White supremacist and fascist organizations have boasted rapid growth since the onset of the economic crisis, and on Sept. 12, more than 10,000 far-right “tea baggers” answered Glenn Beck’s call to march on Washington.
The emergence of the NSM in southern California coincides with a trend seen around the country. For the U.S. ruling class, channeling frustration over economic woes into racist scapegoating is a tried and true tactic.
It is troubling to note that just weeks before the Nazi rally on Oct, 7, a Riverside Nazi named Benjamin Kuzelka lost his hand in an explosion while making bombs in his home. The clearly terrorist nature of the NSM did not deter the Riverside police from approving the permit for the rally, and providing an overwhelming amount of protection.
The NSM had first rallied in Riverside nearly two weeks earlier but were driven away by 200 counter-demonstrators. Defeated, the Nazis vowed to come back stronger and to continue having a visible presence to terrorize the community.
Roughly 15 NSM members gathered at 10 a.m. behind a police barricade. Several NSM “storm troopers” were dressed in military garb complete with body armor, Kevlar helmets, and tactical ammunition vests stocked with zip-tie handcuffs. They were virtually indistinguishable from the line of police protecting them.
The ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), with member groups Students Fight Back, March Forward!, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, united with other progressive allies and community leaders in Riverside to drive the Nazis out.
This time, over 600 progressive activists, students, workers and community members came out to stand up to the fascists. While separated by a wall of police in riot gear, small scuffles broke out early in the rally as brave anti-racists faced the Nazis at their barricade. The police rushed to the aid of the Nazis and attacked the anti-racists, arresting one.
Intending to strike fear, Nazi rally had opposite effect
If the goal of the NSM was to strike fear into oppressed communities and spark division, their rally had the opposite effect. The counter-demonstration was a powerful display of diversity and unity. The day laborers, who the NSM sought to run out of town, instead confronted the Nazis, standing shoulder to shoulder with other members of the immigrant community, the Arab and Muslim community, LGBT groups, and students and workers of all ages and nationalities.
In the face of swastika flags and stiff-arm salutes, demonstrators drowned out the Nazis bullhorns as ANSWER activists led chants of “Say It Loud, Say It Clear, Immigrants Are Welcome Here,” “Black, Brown, Asian, White, Same Struggle, Same Fight,” and “Immigrants Yes, Racists No, Nazi Scum Have Got To Go!”
Members of the Riverside community were likewise determined to send a message to the Nazis that they wouldn’t be able to show their faces without a fight. Local residents in the counter-demonstration were rightfully infuriated that such abhorrent racists were attacking their community. At a certain point in the rally, residents began hurling water bottles, rocks and other objects at the Nazis.
When tensions escalated, the police did not shut down the Nazi rally, which was the cause of the conflict. Instead, the police began to attack the anti-fascist demonstrators. But when riot police marched through the counter-demonstration barricade to begin making arrests, the people pushed back. The entire crowd chanted “Shame On You!” to the police and stood their ground. The police were forced to halt the attack and retreat back to the Nazi barricade without making any arrests.
When the Nazis were finally driven out, they were escorted back to their cars by a large security detail of riot police. As they were leaving, the anti-fascist rally broke through the barricades to chase the Nazis out, met by a wall of police. The Nazis rushed back to their cars as the Riverside community took the street, chanting “The People United Will Never Be Defeated!”
The counter-demonstration sent a clear message to the NSM that the people want unity, not racism and hate, and will mobilize and fight back any time the fascists try to get a foothold in the area. The counter-demonstration was a huge victory for the community.
But a renewed mobilization of right-wing and fascist forces is still a reality. Beating back these forces will require the same tactics used at the Riverside rally; to organize together based on our class interests, to take the streets, to fight the racists wherever they show their faces and drive them out of every community.
Building a resistance to the resurgence of these groups is essential during this capitalist economic crisis. We must counter all of their actions in an organized and militant way, and build a real working-class movement based on solidarity and unity against our common enemy. This is how our class will defeat this new wave of fascist activity, and later defeat the criminal capitalist system itself.
